Matters of Faith: The Work You Were Assigned!

By: Reverend J. Loren Russell

Zechariah 11:17 NKJV
“Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”

Isaiah 55:7
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

There is something sacred about being called to lead the people of God. Anyone who is given that charge and abuses it, is fully subject to God’s wrath. The Lord cares deeply for and takes great strides to provide and protect His people even though they have historically been rebellious, unrepentant, apathetic, even lethargic. He uses the prophet Zechariah to illustrate his disappointment with them, even telling them that He will no longer have pity on them and will allow them to fall into the hands of their oppressor. There is no doubt that the Lord was fed up with His people.

The Prophet Zechariah chopped in two pieces one of his cane’s (he called it Beauty or Favor), symbolizing God’s revocation of His covenant with the people. Then he took his other cane (he called it Bond or Union) and cut it in two pieces, showing that the bond between Judah and Israel was broken. The Lord wanted His people to know that they had truly crossed the line and they were on their own.

But this is a prophecy of the shepherds, those who were called to care for His people. The Lord tells Zechariah to play the part of a worthless shepherd to show the people the type of leadership He will raise up to lead them. These shepherds will not care about those who are dying, look after the young, heal the injured, or feed those who are healthy. Zechariah will represent the shepherd who will eat the meat of the fattest sheep and tear the hoofs off their feet. In other words, the worthless shepherd will take the best the sheep have and keep it for himself and totally abandon the flock.

The Lord wanted to make it clear that there is a severe penalty for those who are assigned the duty of shepherding the Lord’s people when He says, “Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock.” Despite God’s displeasure and anger with His people, or that it was their behavior that triggered the Shepherd’s lack of dutifulness, sorrow still awaits those shepherds who abuses or abandons the work they were assigned.

With such a fatalistic future for the Children of Israel, Isaiah has words of encouragement and hope, not just for those whose work assignment was to care for the sheep, but those who rebelled against the Lord, and those of us who are in His service today; “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

We all are responsible for the work we were assigned.

Be Blessed!

Rev. J. Loren Russell is President/CEO of The JLR Company for Church Financial Strategy & Consulting; an associate minister at both Goodwill and The Greater Universal Baptist Churches in the Bronx; creator & host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” Mondays 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook LIVE and author of Matters of Faith: The Book (eBook available at Smashwords)

Print Friendly, PDF & Email